1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for the production of aromatic amines such as aniline by reaction of an alicyclic alcohol or ketone with ammonia in the presence of a crystalline silicate catalyst.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The reaction of alcohols and ketones with ammonia in the vapor phase to produce amines is well known. One usually gets a mixture of primary, secondary and tertiary amines and water. The proportion of the various amines produced can be varied somewhat by the ratio of alcohol or ketone to ammonia in the feed, i.e., large ratios give tertiary amines while low ratios tend to give primary amines. Temperatures of 300.degree.-500.degree. C. and pressures of 10-200 atmospheres have been employed in carrying out such reactions in the presence of various catalysts, such as alumina. Aluminum phosphate has been used as a catalyst to prepare isopropyl amines from ammonia and isopropyl alcohol at 200 atm pressure and a temperature of 350.degree. C. This reaction is described in British Pat. No. 649,980. Amines have also been produced from alcohols, ammonia and hydrogen over hydrogenation catalysts. It has been reported that mono-, di-, and tributylamines have been prepared from n-butyl alcohol, ammonia and hydrogen at 190.degree. C. over a pelletized nickel catalyst. U.S. Pat. No. 4,191,709 discloses a process for the preparation of an amine by reaction of methanol with ammonia in the presence of zeolite FU-1 catalyst. U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,374 describes a process for making tertiary amines by reacting alicyclic alcohols, aldehydes or ketones with ammonia. The catalyst comprises copper, tin and alkali metal supported on a suitable carrier such as alumina. U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,805 discloses the reaction of a C.sub.1 -C.sub.5 alcohol or ether with ammonia in the presence of a ZSM-5 type zeolite catalyst.